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Five Fat Tuesday Dining Ideas

Fat Tuesday Dining Ideas

New Orleans knows how to eat and drink. Mardi Gras is one of the most indulgent days of the year, a pre-Lenten melee that has transcended New Orleans to become a national celebration of gluttony and decadence. In Chicago, here’s a roundup of Mardi Gras specials and events taking place this year on or around Mardi Gras, aka Fat Tuesday, February 9.

Analogue: With a kitchen led by New Orleans native Alfredo Nogueira, responsible for some of the best Cajun and Creole cooking in Chicago, you’d be smart to pay Analogue a visit on Fat Tuesday. The chef will be cooking up some authentic specials for the holiday, including crawfish étouffée and a King Cake doughnut. Anyone who gets a piece of doughnut with a plastic baby in it, gets a free shot from the bar. Reservations for Analogue can be made on the bar’s website.

Fish Bar: Lakeview’s preeminent seafood haunt has conveniently “dressed up” as a New Orleans fish shack for the winter, boasting a menu filled with crawfish, frog legs, and Louisiana-style pecan pie. All of which are part of a special five-course Fat Tuesday menu, inspired by chef Michael Kornick’s time in New Orleans. The prix fixe costs $35 per person and reservations can be made by calling Fish Bar.

Coconutz: Considering Fat Tuesday’s knack for booze and debauchery, it makes sense that a tropical cocktail bar would be hosting a holiday event for the occasion. Head to Coconutz, the Gold Coast’s newest island-inspired oasis, for Fat Tuesday to enjoy live trumpet music, passed appetizers, and New Orleans-style cocktail specials like Sazeracs, Vieux Carres, and Hurricanes. The shindig goes down from 7:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m.

Mardi Gras (/ˈmɑːrdiɡrɑː/), also called Shrove Tuesday,[1] or Fat Tuesday, in English, refers to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three King’s Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is French for “Fat Tuesday”, reflecting the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season.

Related popular practices are associated with Shrovetide celebrations before the fasting and religious obligations associated with the penitential season of Lent. In countries such as England, Mardi Gras is also known asShrove Tuesday, which is derived from the word shrive, meaning “confess”.[1]

Popular practices on Mardi Gras include wearing masks and costumes, overturning social conventions, dancing, sports competitions, parades, debauchery, etc. Similar expressions to Mardi Gras appear in other European languages sharing the Christian tradition, as it is associated with the religious requirement for confession before Lent begins. In many areas, the term “Mardi Gras” has come to mean the whole period of activity related to the celebratory events, beyond just the single day. In some American cities, it is now called “Mardi Gras Day”.[2][3][4][5][6]

The festival season varies from city to city, as some traditions, such as the one in New Orleans, Louisiana, consider Mardi Gras to stretch the entire period from Twelfth Night (the last night of Christmas which begins Epiphany) to Ash Wednesday.[7][8] Others treat the final three-day period before Ash Wednesday as the Mardi Gras.[9] In Mobile, Alabama, Mardi Gras-associated social events begin in November, followed by mystic society balls on Thanksgiving,[7][10] then New Year’s Eve, followed by parades and balls in January and February, celebrating up to midnight before Ash Wednesday. In earlier times, parades were held on New Year’s Day.[7] Other cities famous for Mardi Gras celebrations include Rio de Janeiro; Barranquilla, Colombia; George Town, Cayman Islands; Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; Quebec City, Quebec, Canada; Mazatlán, and Sinaloa, Mexico.

Carnival is an important celebration in Anglican and Catholic European nations.[1] In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the week before Ash Wednesday is called “shrovetide”, ending on Shrove Tuesday. It has its popular celebratory aspects, as well. Pancakes are a traditional food. Pancakes and related fried breads or pastries made with sugar, fat, and eggs are also traditionally consumed at this time in many parts of Latin America and the Caribbean.